Mobile car wash on Greenwich Peninsula

A neighbourhood built around fewer cars

The Peninsula is one of the biggest building projects in London. The masterplan, led by the developer Knight Dragon and approved in 2015, covers a 79-hectare former industrial site and was raised in 2019 to 17,487 homes, for a community its architects put at about 35,000 people. It is laid out as districts: Upper Riverside, Peninsula Central, Lower Riverside, Meridian Quays, Parkside, Brickfields and the Design District.

It was planned with cars in mind, just not many of them. Knight Dragon set out a ratio of about one parking space for every four homes, so most cars here live in a residents' basement or podium car park rather than on the street. That is exactly where a wash that comes to the car earns its place: there is no tap, no hose and nowhere to take it.

Washing in a residents' car park

Every building on the Peninsula sets its own rules for its car park, and we have not found one rule that covers them all. If your car is in a residents' car park, check with your concierge or building management that a washer can work there, then add the access details, the level and the bay number in the notes when you book. The washer checks in at the car and photographs it before and after, so you have a record without being there.

O2 event days, tunnels and charging

The O2 arena holds 20,000 people and hosts more than 200 events a year, according to its operator AEG, and event days change the whole Peninsula. Event parking is in Car Park 1, where The O2 asks drivers to pre-book through JustPark; it runs from 10am until 10am the next day, while Car Parks 2, 3 and 4 serve the shops and the cinema. If your car is parked near the arena, a morning window on a non-event day is the easiest booking.

Getting on and off the Peninsula by car also costs more than it used to. The Silvertown Tunnel opened on 7 April 2025, and TfL now charges at both it and the Blackwall Tunnel from 6am to 10pm, seven days a week. A wash that comes to you saves a crossing.

If you drive electric, charging on the Peninsula is spread around. Zapmap lists a 12-charger Tesla Supercharger site at 1 Waterview Drive and charge points at the NCP North Greenwich station car park, while the four charging bays in the TfL station car park are for electric black cabs only. The Royal Borough said in 2025 that it is expanding charging across the borough.

The clean that suits Peninsula life

With the Jubilee line, the river bus and the cable car on the doorstep, a car on the Peninsula can sit in its car park for days at a time. A car that sits still still gets dirty, and in a car park near building sites the dust settles on it week after week.

• A car you only use at weekends: an Essential Inside & Out every few weeks keeps it ready to go.
• A fuller clean before a trip or a visit: Deluxe Inside & Out.
• Handing back a leased or company car: the End of lease clean gets it ready for collection.
• A new car you want to keep that way: ceramic coating protects the paint for two years.

More on this: washing an electric car and end of lease car cleaning.